Today the Swedish artist Di Leva releases his new single Mother Mary. The song was composed and recorded by Di Leva, isolated in his studio outside of Stockholm, during the first weeks of the current global pandemic ”lockdown”.

”A thoughtful work that references the current global pandemic, presented as a catchy sing-a-long pop song capturing the feeling of sorrow, tragedy, despair and isolation in this unprecedented crisis.”
David James Bentley / Nordic Music Review (UK)

Mother Mary is a catchy soul pop song with a gospel influenced chorus sung by Britta Bergström, who has previously worked with Agneta Fältskog (of ABBA Fame), Robyn and European Song Contest winners Loreen and Måns Zelmerlöv. The choir also features the Swedish producer Anders Lundström and Di Leva’s eight-year old son Telo.

– During the first weeks of the Corona crisis the song came to me as an inner comfort in all the sadness that I read about from all around the world. My wish is for the song to reach out globally as an inspiration and universal prayer for everyone in these hard times, says Di Leva.

Di Leva is one of Sweden’s best known artists. His long and constantly developing career has made him one of the most recognized people in Sweden. Since the late 80’s he’s had numerous hits, won the Swedish Grammy as Best artist and his songs are regularly on rotation on Swedish radio. 

Di Leva has toured and performed thousands of concerts all over Scandinavia. He has also toured in various countries including UK, India and the U.S. In 2018 Di Leva created and starred in the show Changes, based on the life of the late David Bowie, one of his most important sources of artistic inspiration as a teenager. Since the first performances of the tribute show in Stockholm Di Leva toured with his successful show at sold out concert venues all over Sweden. During his long and successfull career Di Leva has also made innumerous TV-shows and theatre plays, including playing Hamlet in a highly acclaimed performance of the Shakespearean epic.

Mother Mary is the third single from his forthcoming concept album The Hybrids. The previous two singles have been Men in Black, an unusual 1950’s-style song that was premiered at the Storm Area 51 Conference in Nevada, USA last year, and If You Believe, a song that deals with life after death.

Di Leva has invited his fans and followers on Facebook-Live to a “Digital Coffee” for the single release of Mother Mary today, and later this evening national Swedish radio (Sveriges Radio P4) will broadcast a recording of his sold out David Bowie tribute tour last year.

George Millington